Unknown Horizons
by Jadesilkmoon
Summary: An owl perches itself on a window ledge in Germany; and that owl is the beginning to whole new journey for the Elrics. Although, things turn when Voldemort discovers this little country called Amestris...  Possible EdxHermione and AlxLuna
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Okay, this is my first fanfiction, so... Sorry if it sucks! Well, here's my Harry Potter and Fullmetal Alchemist crossover!

**Disclaimer: **Pretty obviously, I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. That's kind of why I'm writing a fanfiction about them.

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><p>It was a sunny morning in Germany and the Elric brothers were asleep in the apartment they shared. Edward slowly began to stir, and groggily sat up. He realized how bright it was, morning light streaming in through the window, and raised his auto-mail arm to shield his eyes.<p>

"Stupid birds." he muttered almost incoherently, blaming the birds for his waking up we he would have gladly slept in. As he started to wake a little more, he saw that it wasn't any bird making all the noise, it was an... owl? Why was an owl sitting on their window ledge, and more importantly, staring at him and making so much racket? Ed scrambled off the bed and slumped to the window, knocking on the glass.

"Go away!" he said loudly. The persistant owl stood it's ground, and continued. Ed was irritated by now, so he unlocked the latches, and threw the window open. The large bird swooped in and landed in Ed's hair.

"Gaaah!" He frantically ran around, waving his arms. "Get off my head, you retarded bird!" Of course, this woke Al up.

"Brother?"

"ALPHONSE! Get this thing off!" Ed yelled, stopping his running and chaos, and swatting at the owl.

"Ed, hold still!" He said, climbing out of his mess of sheets and comforter.

When the bird was finally untangled and Ed calmed down, Al carefully held the bird and inspected it. His eyes came across a strange roll of paper tied to it's foot. "Hey, look!" he said, undoing the knot. He slipped it off the claw and spread it out in front of his chest, eyes swiftly moving across the paper and growing larger as he read.

"What is it?" Ed asked. Al stared at the paper, as if examining it, no longer reading, just pondering about it. Ed grew impatient and snatched it out of his brothers hands. The letter was written in intricate writing that said:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL**

**_of _ WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY**

**Dear Mr. Edward and Mr. Alphonse Elric,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will be starting school as fifth and third years. Please find enclosed a list of all necassary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Deputy Headmistress**

Ed looked for a few more seconds, before bursting out laughing.

"You're kidding right? Witchcraft... Wizardry? Like, magic! Oh man, whoever was trying to pull one over on us, did a really bad job!" He choked out between chortles. He clutched at his side and doubled over dramatically. "That's not even scientifically possible!" he wiped imaginary sweat from his brow and exhaled in the sound of a "whew."

"I don't know, Brother. It looks pretty legit to me!" Al said eagerly. Ed threw him a disaproving look.

"Al. It's ridiculous." He said simply and conclusively, as if that covered everything.

"But-" Al was cut off when Ed scoffed and said, "You can't possibly believe this. It's a hoax!"

"But why was it sent by owl?" Al asked, as if he was never interrupted. Ed thought about that for a moment, before speaking again.

"Okay, I have an idea. Let's go to the library, and see if we can find anything on this 'Hogwarts' place." Al nodded, and the two set off.

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><p><strong>AN: **Yeah, this chapter is insanely short. I'M REALLY SORRY! In the future, you will be seeing longer chapters from me!


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's Note:_ I promised longer chapters! I know this one still isn't the longest, but it's acceptable, right? I tried to mix it up a little by making them meet different people throughout this chapter, instead of meeting Ron, Harry, and Hermione right away like most people write. Well, here's chapter 2!**

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><p><strong>Two Weeks Later, Diagon Alley<strong>

"So, where do you want to start, Brother?" Al asked thrusting the list of required things towards Ed. He was mad about being proved wrong when they found a book on Hogwarts, but after a while, the excitement and curiosity got the best of him. He was especially excited and curious when Albus Dumbledore's head appeared in the flames of the fireplace, instructing the Elrics to travel here via something called, "Floo Powder" that left you ready to puke. Ed scanned over the list and replied with, "Bookstore. I saw one back there just a second ago, I think it was called Flourish and Blotts."

"Okay!" They began walking in the direction Ed pointed to. "What do you think it will be like at Hogwarts?" Al asked speedily.

"Who knows?"

"Do you think they'll like us?"

"Maybe," Ed said as he pushed open the door to Flourish and Blotts. A bell tingled to signal their coming in. "I just still don't understand how it's possible." He remarked. They were taken aback at the amount of bookcases, and gaped at the rows and rows. It had way more than your average library. Al was the first one to speak: "Well, let's find the books on the list!" He exclaimed, and took off. Edward decided to trail behind, looking for others that caught his eye - and there were quite a few. Occasionally, he'd pull one off the shelf because he thought it looked fairly interesting, and eventually, he found a book about alchemy. Ed was the most eager about that alchemy one, because he wanted to see what it was thought of and how it was different here.

The brothers found out that they had both picked up some that weren't on the list when they met up again at the front of the store, and saw that they had equally large piles of books. They rushed to the check-out counter and layed their bundles on it. The bell tingled again, and they both spun around, to see a thin boy with black hair and glasses walk in. They noticed if you look closely, there was a lighting bolt shape on his forehead, slightly obscured by his messy bangs.

"Eleven Galleons and seven Knuts." The cashier said, drawing the boys' attention back to their purchase.

"Come again?" Ed asked, completely dumbfounded.

The foreign money amount was repeated. Al and Ed exchanged confused glances.

"We don't-" Al began, but stopped when bronze and gold coins were placed on the counter in front of them. The twosome whipped around to look at the owner of the "Galleons" and "Knuts".

"Er..." Ed murmered.

"I'll pay." The black-haired boy told the cashier. He nodded took the money, putting the books in bags.

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><p>"You really didn't have to do that back there. You shouldn't waste your money on us." Al said as they walked along the streets of Diagon Alley.<p>

"Seriously, it's okay. My parents left me heaps." He turned his head to look at them, and smiled. "I'm Harry Potter." He extended his right hand.

"Alphonse Elric." Al said, shaking Harry's hand. Harry looked at Ed.

"Edward Elric." They also shook hands, and Harry noticed how hard it was... _almost like metal or something. _He thought. Ignoring this, he changed the topic: "So, are you guys going to Hogwarts?" Al nodded.

"Do you go there?" It was Harry's turn to nod.

"What year will you be going into? Because you don't look like first years."

"Yeah, we're transfers. I'll be in fifth, and Al will be in third." Ed answered.

"Nice, I'm in fourth!" Harry commented. Ed grimaced; Harry was atleast an inch taller. Said person glanced at his wristwatch.

"Well, I've got some time to kill. Mind if I run around with you guys while you get stuff?"

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><p>They were almost through with the list. All they needed now were wands.<p>

"Wow, it's been forever since I was in Ollivander's!" Harry exclaimed. Ollivander conveniently happened to walk up behind the desk at the same time.

"You boys looking for wands, I presume?" The Elrics nodded. "Alright then! How about you, first?" He pointed to Alphonse.

"Uh, okay!" He took a few steps closer to Al. A little too close for comfort. He took out a measuring tape and asked, "Which is your wand arm?" Al hesitated.

"The one you write with." Harry said. Al emitted a small, "oh." and put out his right arm. The measuring tape began measuring on it's own, while the man disappeared to the back of the store, much to the younger Elric's suprise. He came back a minute later, carrying a couple different boxes. He took an ornate looking stick out of the first container, and gingerly put it in Al's hands.

"Thirteen inches, holly and dragon hearstring, springy." The brother looked at it for a moment, before Ollivander practically shouted, "Go on! Give it a wave!" He cautiously waved it around, probably looking like a complete idiot. The silver-eyed man took it back immediatly and shoved another in his hands. "Maple and unicorn hair, nine and a half inches, nice and supple." This went on for a couple wands later, with many, "Oh no! That's not it!"'s from Ollivander. Until finally, an eleven inch, mahogany and dragon heartstring, flexible wand "Was absolutely perfect!" according to Ollivander.

"Alright now, you with the braid." Edward stood, and the process repeated. Ed's was twelve and a half inches, elder and phoenix feather, and springy.

Once they were out and had aquired wands, Ed said, "Man, that guy was creepy!" The other two laughed and Harry replied, "I know! I've always thought that!"

After they roamed Diagon Alley for a bit longer, Harry checked his watch once more and said, "Well, most of the time, I come here about a week before school starts, but the train leaves in about fourty-five minutes. You guys had better get going!" He paused while the Elrics nodded. "I have some people to meet up with beforehand." He waved and took off in a different direction.

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><p>"Platform Nine and Three-quarters?" Al asked once they arrived at King's Cross. "That's unusual." He looked up from the paper, looking for said platform. <em>Great. <em>Ed thought. He saw a platform ten, and a platform nine, but no nine and three-quarters.

"I knew it! I knew this whole thing was nothing but some stupid trick! I'll bet that Harry person was hired!" Ed started ranting, and Alphonse quickly tried to calm him down, as not cause a scene.

"Brother, you're attracting attention!" He said in a hushed voice. "And, what about the book we read - Hogwarts: A History? Also, we've spent all morning in Diagon Alley! I don't think anybody would go that far for a prank." Ed seemed to have nothing to say about this. "Let's ask someone." Al stated.

"Nah, they might be non-wizards. That wouldn't be good."

"Let's ask them!" Al said, pointing. Ed averted his gaze to where his brother pointed. Sure enough, two identical, fiery, red-heads in robes similar to the ones they had recieved earlier today, were nearing. The Elrics took that as a sign that they might be going to Hogwarts too, and ran over to them.

"Excuse me, but do you know how to get onto platform nine and three-quarters?" Al asked politely, and much to his and Ed's delight, the twins nodded.

"Yup! We do." The one on the left said.

"First years?" The other asked. Ed's anger spiked, and he was in rampage mode now.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' SHORT?" He hollered, and Al already held him back. "Does it _look_ like I'm a first year? I'm fifteen, dammit!"

"Woah, take it easy, mate! We were-"

"Just asking." The one on the right finished for him. "We never said you were short."

_It was implied. _Ed thought. Then, out loud, he muttered, "We're transfers." and jerked out of his brother's grip.

"Well, we're in sixth. I'm Fred," The one on the left said.

"And I'm George!"

"I'm Alphonse."

"Edward. Call me Ed."

"Awright, to get on the platform, just run through that barrier." Fred said.

"Like this!" George exclaimed and jogged calmly straight towards the barrier. It looked as if he would crash, but then, he simply disappeared. Like a ghost goes through a wall. Ed and Al gaped, and Fred motioned for them to go.

"Go on now! Nothing's gonna happen." He assured them. They exchanged glances, before jogging in front of the divider between platforms nine and ten, and stopped.

"I feel like an idiot." Ed said, and stepped forward a few times. The concrete wall in front of him was now a scarlet, steaming, train. He gasped as Al came through the wall, followed by Fred.

"Better wait for the rest of the family, then." He said to George.

"Thanks, guys!" Al said, and him and Ed boarded the train that was as red as the twins' hair. Once they slid into a compartment and got their things stowed in place, they watched out the window as a group of read-heads, a brunette, and, suprisingly to them, Harry approached Fred and George.

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><p>Ed was lying on his back, taking up his whole side of the compartment. Al sat across from him, reading. The train had just started moving, and they had already gotten themselves settled in. Suddenly, the compartment door opened, and a girl with an innocent face and long, fair, blonde hair poked her head in.<p>

"Sorry, everywhere else is full. Would it be okay if I sat here?" The girl asked in a voice that sounded like her mind was far away.

"Uh, sure!" Al scooted over and made room for the girl. She nodded in appreciation, sat down gracefully, and took out a magazine. Before she began reading, she turned it upside-down. The brothers stared at eachother, then the way she read the magazine, and air of confusion setting in. "My name's Edward." He decided to break the silence and get to know the girl, so he sat up.

"I'm Luna Lovegood." She said dreamily and put her left hand out. Ed was greatful for this. He shook it and she said, "Pleased to meet you." Al introduced himself, and they also shook hands.

"So, what year are you in?" Ed asked.

"Third, what about you two?"

"I'm in third too!" Al exclaimed.

"Fifth."

Luna went back to reading her upside-down magazine.

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><p><strong><em>Author's Note:<em> Okay, I've already had a question about their age, and I was planning to explain at the end of this chapter. So, I needed them to be on this side of the gate, so I figured it could just take place after the movie. Well, Ed would be too old to go, so I changed the age. Yeah, I could have made him a seventh year, to match the movie better, but I still wanted both of them close to Harry's age. It's a fanfiction! So it's okay to change a few things, isn't it? I hope that cleared things up! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Someone should have slapped me in the face. Haha, I'm sorry for the long wait! Most authors would follow that last sentence with some good excuses, but all I've got is my cousin had to stay for a few days, I've been playing hours of Final Fantasy IX, and... uh, some other stuff in between XD

Okay, enjoy The Alchemists and the Goblet of Fire chapter three! (Or as it's saved on my computer, tatgof 3. I'm so lazy ^.^)

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><p><strong>Hogwarts Express<strong>

All morning it had been cloudy, and now it was starting to rain. They did basically nothing, except for a few stretches, magazine reading, and shifting positions. That is, until a certain red-headed girl whipped the compartment door open.

"Luna, there you are!" she exclaimed. Then she spotted the other two. "Oh, are you guys new?"

"Yeah." Al smiled.

"Well, nice to meet you, I'm Ginny." she paused, and studied them. "Are you brothers?"

"Yep, I'm Edward, that's Alphonse. Just call us Ed and Al." he said, getting tired of introducing himself today, so he saved his brother the trouble.

"I have brothers. Actually, I have six." she said. "You might have met some of them, since three of them go here."

"Are Fred and George two of 'em?" Ed asked, the fiery hair was hard to mistake. Ginny nodded.

"Oh, uh, may I sit here?" Ginny asked suddenly, like she had just realised she had been standing, holding the sliding door wide open. They nodded and she sat next to Ed. Ed was also getting extremely tired of the question about their year. Thankfully, the read-head didn't ask.

"Luna, where have your shoes gone?" said person looked up from her reading.

"I have no idea. They've all mysteriously disapeared. It's got to be the nargles."

Oh, er, okay. Anyways, do you know of anything special going on this year?"

"Well, someone may have mentioned something special, but I wasn't paying attention. Why?"

"Well, my family - apart from us that go to Hogwarts - keeps talking about this 'Big Event' that's supposed to be happening. I have absolutely no clue what they're talking about!"

"Hmm... Neither do I." Luna said, that far away look back in her eyes.

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><p>When they arrived at Hogwarts, the Elrics were extremely taken aback to see gigantic, skeletal, horses with huge wings strapped in front of carriges.<p>

"What _are_ those things?" Al whispered to Ed, who shrugged.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, guys!" Ginny exclaimed from beside them, and then followed their gaze, laughing. "Yeah, horseless carriges. Cool, huh?" _Horseless? _Ed 's voice then apeared right next to his ear.

"So, can you see them too?"

"Yeah. How come Ginny can't see them?"

"And what are they?" Al added.

"They thestrals. And loads of people can't see them. You have to witness death."

"Oh. So, you've seen someone die then?"

"Yes." Luna answered sadly. "My mum, I was only nine."

"I'm sorry. We don't have a mom either." Al said, not really knowing what else to say.

"So is that why you can see them?"

"Yep. I'll bet so." Ed lied. The truth was, they'd seen a couple people die, and if homunculi counted, they'd seen more than a couple.

The trio climbed aboard one of the carriges, followed by three more people - Harry, a brunette, and someone the brothers were almost possitive was related to Ginny.

"Hey Harry!" Luna, Ed, and Al greeted in unison.

"I guess you already know eachother!" Luna laughed. The read-head and brunette clambered in and looked expectantly at Harry.

"What?" The two inclined their heads at the Elrics. "Oh, whoops. Sorry everyone. That's Ed, he's a year older than us, that's Al, he's a year younger than us." He said pointing at them. "This is Hermione and this is Ron, and they're in my grade. But that last part was obvious since I was saying, 'us'." They traded small "hi"s, but it wasn't long before conversation started up.

"What house do you want to be sorted into?" Ron asked, sounding excited. When the brothers didn't reply, he continued. "So I suppose you're not too familiar with the houses yet. Wel-"

"Hogwarts is divided into four houses - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." Hermione interjected.

"The three of us are in Gryffindor." Harry explained. "It's known for bravery."

"Ravenclaw's known for intelligence." Hermione said.

"Hufflepuff's about working hard and ambition, stuff like that." Luna added.

"And Slytherin's about being evil stupid." Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "They might get Slytherin!"

"Nah, they're not Slytherin-ish to me."

"But if they are, that's really offensive!" The two kept their hushed argument going.

"So, what house do you hope to get?" Harry asked over Hermione and Ron. Ed shrugged.

"As long as I don't get Slytherin, I'm fine. Right Ron?" He asked laughing. Ron looked up and grinned.

"See, Hermione? I like these guys." He leaned back in his seat. "Hey look! We're here."

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><p>Hogwarts was <em>amazing<em>. That was the only thing going through the brothers' minds, and that didn't even cover it. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside in the Great Hall, which was HUGE; the stairs moved, the paintings moved, paintings talked, statues moved, (just about everything moved.) it was all over impressive.

After a while, Proffessor McGonagall came bursting in the doors with a line of first years, sent them where they were supposed to be, and marched over to Ed and Al, who were standing next to Gryffindor table and holding conversations with Hermioine, Ron, Harry, and Ginny.

"You two, come on now." she commanded, walking away, expecting them to follow. They obliged with a wave to their friends, anticipation rising inside them. A first year walked up, after hearing her name called by McGonagall, sat down, and put on the hat. It fell over her eyes, and she seemed to be very shocked, like it was doing something to her. This made the brothers imensely curious. Then, to their suprise, the hat _spoke._ Well, actually, it shouted. "RAVENCLAW!" Echoed through the enormus room, followed by lots of applause. Tons of first years came across the stage and were seperated into the different houses. It seemed to go on and on and on, until they were sure that hat's voice would be ringing in their ears for days. Then, finally, Proffessor Dumbledore came and stood in front of everyone.

"This year things are a little different for two reasons. First of all, we have some exchange students coming in from Germany, but they speak fluent English, because Germany is not their birthplace." He said, his magnifyed voice booming. Proffessor McGonagall then spoke.

"Third year, Elric, Alphonse." Al nervously walked out next to Dumbledore, who motioned for him to sit down and put on the hat, and he did so. The hat fell over his eyes, like it had for everyone else. Al was immediately alarmed when a voice started up in his head.

_"hmmmm. You're pretty smart." _ The voice said.

_Who are you?_

_"I'm the hat, silly. Who else would I be?"_

_..._

_"Anyways, you're very smart indeed. You'd make a good Ravenclaw. But... what's this? You've had to do some crazy things in you're past haven't you?"_

_Er, I guess so._

_"Hm, you've shown some incredible bravery it seems. I think I'll go with... _

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat screamed. Al was elated. Secretly, he'd kind of wanted Gryffindor from the start. Besides, most of the friends they had recently made were in Gryffindor. So of course, the Gryffindor table roared with applause and cheers as Al ran down to join them.

"Fifth year, elric, Edward." He walked up to the stool, sat down, and promtly put the hat on. He tried to keep his face unreadable, although inside him, different emotions whirled and jumped inside him. But that's understandable, this choice would determine his main friends, classes, weather he'd be with Al or not, all different things for a whole year.

_"Whew, you and your brother sure are a lot alike."_

_Hey, what the hell? Get out of my mind!_

_"Don't get hasty now, it's just the sorting hat."_

_Well, this is Edward, and I don't like how you have access to MY mind._

_"Just let me have a look for second!"_

_Jeez. This is ridiculous._

_"Shh. I'm trying to look at your past."_

_What the-?_

_"Shhhh! ... Now, you had to -_

_Whatever you were gonna say, don't. And hurry up!_

_"'Kay. Let's see... _

"GRYFFINDOR!" The roaring and cheering repeated as Ed jerked the hat off his head and walked over to the table. _I hate anything that can get into you're thoughts like that. _He found Alphonse sitting next to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and sat down beside him.

"Congradulations, mate!" Ron said, clapping him on the back. He grinned.

"Now that that's settled," Dumbledore boomed, his arms opoen wide, a smile on his face. "The second thing will be announced after dinner. Tuck in!" The empty plates in front of them magically filled with food.

"I'm in love with _that!_" Ed said loudly, loading his dish with a lot more food than what seemed possible for him to eat. But knowing Ed, he'd probably eat way more than that.

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><p><strong>Authors Note: <strong>As you can tell, I love the sorting hat :D It's kinda OOC here, but oh well. Of course, I'm sure everyone could guess they would be in Gryffindor, but what kind of Harry Potter story would it be if they weren't? There'd be a lack of Harry Potter, which, as you very well know, wouldn't work well as a Harry Potter story. More of just a... FMA at Hogwarts story.

I'll try not to take as long next time! Bye!

P.S. I was worried that this story seems to dry, but I didn't expect to get so many emails telling me about Story Alerts and Favorites and everything, so thank you guys so much!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Hey! If you looked on my profile thing, you'll see this same explanation, but here it is just in case:

I've been gone because of a worm on my computer. The worm thing basically crashed my whole computer. It took a while to fix it, but we got it done. So... I'm back! I wrote yet another short chapter, this time because I was in a hurry to get back to you guys.

A _huge _thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited my story or me :D I'm sorry I can't go through and thank the favorites individually, but, here's a thanks to my reviewers!

Thank you very, very much Fuocoso, Anquitil, PinkPhsyc00, Perseus46, cupcakecorruptionxD, CrimsonDenizen, and Ahmla93

I'm doing this because every time I see my name in SaturnXK's chapters, I feel so special! Also, because reviews makes me ultra happy! So, you guys need to check out SaturnXK too, they're awesome! Well, enjoy this chapter and sorry for the long wait!

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><p><strong>Boys Dormitory<strong>

Ed sat in bed with his arms behind his head, leaning back on his pillow, thinking over the announcement that Dumbledore had told them after dinner.

"_We have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."_

Then Fred had decided to holler, "You're JOKING!" causing a wave of laughter over the Great Hall. Ed chuckled to himself thinking back on _that_ particular moment. Of course, the Elric's were confused, not being from magical descent and all. So Dumbledore's explanation had helped immensely.

"_The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young wizards and witches of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll was mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."_

Honestly, this sounded intriguing to Ed, he wanted to know more about it. _Only seventh years can enter, huh?_

He removed his top layer of clothes, leaving him in his traditional black tank-top and pants.

He glanced over at Al, who was already asleep. He smiled. Al was _sleeping_ again. After everything they did, he finally had reached his goal. His brother had his body back, and his memories.

`.',*~.'`'*-.,

/ `':.~.',

(**A/N** like my wand? Hahaha)

The next morning, gray-brown eyes opened to a mixture of velvet red and topaz. Alphonse blinked a few times, focusing his vision, then realized the curtains around the bed must have fallen sometime during the night. Sitting up, he pulled the curtains aside. The other color, topaz, was his hair, which he quickly swept out of his eyes. Ed was already up, reading something. The movement must have caught his eye and he looked over.

"Mornin'." He drawled. Al chuckled. He saw that the sun was barely peaking over mountains way off in the distance, not even rising yet.

"So, what time is it?"

"6:03, according to the clock over there."

"Oh, there's a clock in the common room... whoops." It was Ed's turn to chuckle. He saw that Ed wasn't wearing anything but a tank-top. "What are you gonna tell people about your arm?"

"Well, as long as they don't see it, there should be no questions, right?" Al nodded, a little unsure. Ed pulled his cloak over himself again, as his brother started to change.

"You're wearing the same thing as yesterday?"

"No, I have to find some where private to change."

"How about shutting the curtains on your bed and changing there?"

"Oh..." He pulled the cloak off hastily and yanked the velvet curtains closed. Al snickered once again.

`.',*~.'`'*-.,

/ `':.~.',

Meanwhile, Hermione sat in the common room, lost in thought. She checked her watch. 6:11 in the morning. The witch sighed. Being awake early, and having nothing to do was annoying. She leaned back in her chair and waved her wand expertly, distinguishing the flames in the fire. Thinking to herself would be much easier without that constant crackling. This morning, thoughts about anything and everything crossed her mind, and she let herself get engrossed in them. So, naturally, she jumped when she heard a door shut. _Who's awake? _Footsteps started down the stairs. She noticed they sounded uneven. She turned around to see golden eyes and a smiling face.

"Didn't expect to see you here," Ed stated. She took in his features carefully, not having the chance to really get a good look yet. He had that little something about him that was somewhat intimidating, she just couldn't place it. At the same time, the blonde had a splash of innocence to his appearance. His hair was long and brassy blonde, down and spread over his shoulders. She was a little nervous about talking to him. After all, she didn't exactly know him all that well yet. She didn't know if he was touchy about certain subjects, or hard to talk to in general for that matter. But that charming smile of his convinced her to take her chances and talk casually.

"You either. I thought I'd be the only one up this early." She gave him an inquiring look as he plopped down in the armchair next to her. He grouped all his hair to one side and slightly out in front of him where he could see, and started to braid.

"Al's up too. Who knows what he's doing up there though." She giggled. "But me, I just woke up and started reading. No reason behind it really. You?"

"Oh, I've been up for I while. I had a really weird dream. Just couldn't go back to sleep is all." she paused. "What book were you reading? Not to be snoopy or anything." She added, because of course Hermione, being the bookworm she is, would be curious.

"Just finished a book on Alchemy." Ed stopped himself from attaching 'in this world.' to the end. He wondered why he never got around to it until now, with the exception of a couple times, being in this world for a good period of time now. He finished braiding and tossed the twisted strands behind him.

"Oh, I've read about that!" She exclaimed, almost practically bouncing in her seat. Ed laughed at her antics good-naturedly. A blush rose in her cheeks. "I mean, it's sounds fascinating, doesn't it?"

Before answering, Ed wondered how much he could tell her. In the end, he ultimately decided that it wouldn't hurt anything to tell her that he once could use it. _There's nothing mysterious or sketchy about that._

"I used to be able to do alchemy. I was pretty good at it, not to brag."

"Really?" He nodded. "Why can't you do it anymore?" Okay, that much, he couldn't tell her.

"I don't know, it just sort of... stopped working when I tried." It wasn't exactly lying...

"Oh, that's such a bummer." The brunette looked truly disappointed. "Are you sure? Maybe it came back! Have you tried recently?"

"Well, uh... not really-"

"Try it!" She almost yelled in enthusiasm. No blush this time though, she didn't care. There was an alchemist right in front of her. And supposedly, no one had done alchemy since Nicholas Flamel. It was considered a lost practice, and besides, she wanted to see if he was telling the truth.

"But, yanno... I don't think anything will happen."

"Oh come on, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?" At his unconvinced look, she added, "You're at _Hogwarts_! Anything can happen." Ed grimaced. He'd have to go for a more straight-forward attempt.

"It won't work." He said bluntly. But the girl's tenancy to be persistent never failed.

"Please? Just try?" She shot him one of her best pleading looks. He sighed in defeat.

"Er, okay," He started. "I'll try something small." He wondered why on Earth he was doing this, especially for a girl he didn't hardly know! _Damn puppy dog eyes. _The blonde was basically positive that there would be no reaction. He walked over the the fire place and found a little hunk off of a log about the size of his hand. Edward sat down and put the block of wood on his lap. Hesitantly, he clapped his hands and put them on the wood.

Hermione had noticed that, in the book, you did a lot more than clap your hands. But she just watched, patiently. Even though curiosity itched inside her, that gleeful feeling of winning didn't leave. Not that it was much of a win-lose situation, she had gotten him to do what she wanted, which was an accomplishment.

Of course, he expected nothing to happen. He hadn't been able to do alchemy since he ended up on this side of the gate. But to his shock, a sensation rose inside him. Little tingles shot through his arms and spread through his body, as if running through blood streams. Shocks flowed through his hands as blue light engulfed them. Gold eyes widening, slowly, he uncovered the wood, and revealed it to now be a highly-detailed figurine of a cat. His mouth opened slightly.

_Why can I transmute?_

Hermione couldn't help herself, without thinking, she blurted whatever came to her mind. "That's amazing! It's like- it basically is- wandless magic! That's... amazing!" she mentally slapped herself for repeating "That's amazing!". She mentally slapped again for her lack of a better word.

"You can keep it," he mumbled absentmindedly. He sprung up and made a beeline for the dormitories, dropping the figurine in Hermione's hand. She grinned as she watched him sprint upstairs, hearing those uneven steps again. There was something else she would try to figure out. No, scratch that, she _would_ figure out this Edward character.

`.',*~.'`'*-.,

/ `':.~.',

"AL!" The younger Elric whipped around. By this time, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Dean were all awake, dressing. They stared.

"What, Brother?" He asked the crazed-looking Ed.

"It works!"

"What does?" Ed clapped his hands once. The familiar action clicked in Al's mind. His eyes grew wide.

"How?"

"I don't know!"

"That's- that should be impossible though! Unless someone..." He trailed off.

"I thought the same thing!"

The brothers stared at eachother for a minute, not knowing what to do. The other members of the dorm stared at Ed and Al too.

"Uh... Did I miss something?" Ron asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"We'll be back!" Ed scurried into the bathroom, dragging Al and slamming the door.

Harry and Ron looked at eachother.

"..."

"They've gone mad." Harry concluded. Ron nodded, and they went down to the common room to see Hermione sitting there.

"Hermione, Ed and Al have gone crazy." Ron reported.

"Hmm, I saw Ed just a few minutes ago." Hermione said. "He was fine up until he showed me alchemy, then he ran upstairs like something was wrong." She said without looking up from the wooden figurine in her hands.

"Where'd you get that?" Harry asked. Hermione looked up.

"You two are so dense. Weren't you listening? Ed made it. I told you he was doing alchemy. I thought you guys could put the two together."

"Oh... Alchemy. Why does that sound familiar?" Harry wondered aloud.

"First year... Nicholas Flamel..." Hermione rambled.

"Oh... OH! I remember! Well, sort of. Ed can do alchemy?" Ron exclaimed. The female nodded.

"But, I thought there weren't any other alchemists since Nicholas Flamel?"

"Exactly! That's why I was so excited! You know, I read a book on alchemy one time. It said you had to use these circle things and concentrate really hard. He just clapped his hands." Harry and Ron exchanged looks.

"So that's what he meant..." Harry said. Ron nodded in agreement.

`.',*~.'`'*-.,

/ `':.~.',

**Earlier in the Bathroom**

"Someone had to! That's the only way that can explain why we can transmute again!"

"Are you absolutely positive that we still can?"

"Yes! Try it if you don't believe me." Al did so. He clapped his hands together, and put them on the stone floor. He gasped as the oh-so-familiar light glowed around his hands and outlined his creation. He made part of the floor rise up in front of the door, so if anyone opened it, they would get a stone wall.

"... OH YEAH!" Al shouted. Ed, who had not been expecting a reaction like that, burst out laughing. "Sorry, I just haven't been able to transmute in what seems like _forever! _You can't blame me for being happy."

"It's okay, I was more than happy, I was elated. Only for a second though, because I wondered how in hell I can suddenly. Also, I had to tell you."

"Yeah." Al said, focusing on the topic again.

"Who figured out how to do it?"

"I don't know. But we should definitely find out. It's dangerous to a _lot_ of people. And no one can find out. You remember what happened last time." Someone knocked on the door.

"Anyone in there?" The brothers exchanged a glance.

"Uh..." Al clapped and moved the stone back into the floor.

"We should continue this later."

"Yeah."

"Um... nevermind." The person outside the door said, sounding disgusted. Ed directed a disturbed expression Al's way.

"No thanks!" Al murmered, opening the door. Ed snorted, just now hitting him that they probably seem _really _weird earlier.

Seamus stood in the doorway, eyes widening as both of them came out. His face said everything – that his suspicions suddenly got worse. He looked terrified. Ed, being Ed, decided it was necessary to wink at him. As soon as Seamus shut the door, the Elrics burst out laughing.

"Ed!" Al scolded through giggles.

"I think we successfully creeped him out!" Edward chortled. After they finished their laughing fit – completed with dramatic non-existent-tear wipes – they proceeded downstairs to find Ron and Harry standing in front of Hermione, and the trio seemed to be in a conversation. Hermione was first to notice the brothers' presence, mainly because she noticed those footfalls again.

"Oi, Ed, Al, come down to breakfast with us!" Ron beamed as they approached.

"Hey, there's someone who'll still talk to us." Ed said, failing to suppress his oncoming hilarity. Alphonse elbowed him in the ribs.

"What are you talking about?" Harry questioned.

"I think your friend, what was it? Sea..."

"Seamus." Hermione said instantly. Ed nodded.

"Your friend Seamus has just been mentally scarred." The others gave him odd looks and he just shook his head. Al bit back more giggles, not so discreetly, but oh well.

The five sat in the Great Hall at Gryffindor table – Ron, Harry, and Ed scarfing their food down "like animals" in Hermione's opinion, her and Al eating a little more civilized-like.

The storm was gone, though it left it's remnants of charcoal-colored clouds, making the ceiling look, well, sad. Al was staring, seemingly deep in thought. Ed sat there, looking around like he was judging the whole school, picking up tidbits of conversations. At the moment, he was listening to Fred, George, and Lee Jordan discuss how to age themselves and sneak into the Triwizard Tournament. He raised an eyebrow and tuned them out, instead listening to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Ron ran a finger down his schedule, rambling about classes.

"Today's not bad... outside all morning," he said. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures... Damn it, we're still with the Slytherins..."

"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned in a way that made Divination sound _awful_. This made another eyebrow go up.

"You should've given up like me, shouldn't you?" Hermione spoke, dipping a butter knife into – big surprise – butter, and scraping it along her toast in that perfect, cover-the-whole-piece-of-bread-evenly-the-first-try way that it seems only practiced girls can accomplish. "then you could be taking something sensible, like Arithmancy."

This Divination class must really be terrible. Worried suddenly, Ed pulled out in his schedule. _Of course._ He thought, spotting the class first thing after lunch.

"I see you're eating again." said Ron casually in reply.

"I've decided there are better ways to make a stand about elf rights." Hermione snapped haughtily.

"Yeah... and you were hungry." The red-head grinned. A loud rustling noise sounded above them, and hundreds of owls came soaring in through the open windows. Ed just watched in wonder and amazement, but Al looked more awestruck.

"Woah!" He gasped.

"What's with the ten-million owls?" Ed asked incredulously.

"They're... delivering mail," Hermione said, sounding a little confused. "Did you guys not have mail at your old school?" Ed blinked. "I mean, you two transferred, right? Where did you go, Beauxbatons... wait, you're from Germany aren't you? Well, then Durmstrang, perhaps?"

"Er... Wait, did you say Sturm und Drang?" Ed asked. He tried to think of an English translation for that. Something along the lines of "Storm and Stress". Was that a wizarding school?

"Um, no. _Durmstrang." _she repeated. Well, that blew the chances of lying about there. He would have recognized his own school's name. He needed a country. The first one he knew of that popped into his mind, for some reason, was –

"Brazil, actually, is where I went to school last." He said calmly, hoping desperately that she wouldn't be able to read his expressions and tell he was lying.

"But," she began thoughtfully, "I am positive Dumbledore said you were from Germany."

"We moved there in the middle of last year, and we couldn't enroll since school had already started." he said, as smooth as ever.

"Oh," Hermione said, slightly taken aback. "...Well, that's cool." she said, and if she was trying to hide her suspicions, she was doing a bad job. "Wait, why did you come to Hogwarts this year, then?"

"We didn't like it in Germany. We travel a lot, you see." Al said this time. Ed nodded and averted his eyes back down to his schedule. _This is the worst, most obvious lie ever told. Why aren't there any other transfers? Did _everyone _here start as first years? _Ed thought frustratingly. But then, a question that had been sitting at the back of his mind for a while, popped in his mind.

_Why did we get invited to come to school here? _His eyes narrowed. _We aren't magical... _He tried to mask his sudden confusion and commented about the schedule.

"I, uh, think I have Divination with you guys."

"Me too," Al piped in. _Me and Al are on the same page. I can tell. _

"Here, lemme see," said Ron, thrusting a hand out. Ed and Al passed the sheets down. "I'm gonna circle the classes me, you two, and/or Harry and Hermione have together." He then started circling and mumbling things like, "Me and Harry, Hermione and Harry, nobody, Hermione and me, just Hermione.." Ed noticed Hermione watching him and Al closely.

"Hi!" Ginny sat down swiftly across from them, tossing her scarlet hair behind her. "What's everyone up to?"

"Just looking at classes," Hermione answered, smiling.

"Ooh. What about you Ed, Al?"

"Ron has ours." Al said.

"He's finding mutual classes between all of us." Ed added.

"Oh, bull. I bet he can't even read the schedules!"

"Ginny! Shut it!" Ron called from his seat at the table. Ginny just laughed and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Ron flicked a piece of egg at her, which she dodged easily and continued to laugh, Ed and Al joining.

So far, Edward had gone to Charms, which really pissed him off. Nothing made any sense! There was absolutely nothing scientific about magic. He thought maybe that once he got to the school, there would be some explanations or laws or formulas or something! But magic was exactly as it seems, the only explanation is that it's magic, and as a wizard or witch, equivalent exchange doesn't exist. And that in itself, was going to be hard to accept. So he was forced to pull through with it until lunch. He had to go to Transfiguration, which he half-way liked, because alchemy could help him pull it off, and it was something a little more familiar to him. He'd gone to Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures as well, which the first he hadn't exactly minded, and the second being gross, but not bad.

Finally, he was on his way to lunch and happy about it too. The had gotten off to a rough start, you could say. Plus, so many foreign and confusing things swirled around in his head that he couldn't focus on much in particular at the moment. So he stayed concentrated on getting to lunch, and nothing more. His legs carried him all the way into the Great Hall and he found Gryffindor table, trying to spot either Alphonse, Hermione, Harry, Ron, or Ginny. He stopped walking and scanned the whole table, but he didn't see a single one of them.

"Hmmm." Right as the alchemist was about to find a seat on his own, something slammed into his back, nearly knocking him over.

"Sorry!" The person said. "Oh, it's you Ed." He turned around to see no other than the girl who convinced him to try transmuting this morning, Hermione.

"Why're you in such a hurry?" He asked incrediously.

"I..." she looked around the cafeteria. "What time is it?"

"Uh, like noon-ish. Maybe a couple minutes after. Why?"

"Oh! I thought I was late for lunch! My watch is about twenty minutes ahead I guess." She said in surprise. "Sorry again, really." Ed just laughed.

"You wanna go find a seat?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure!"

* * *

><p>So, I used wands this time instead of big rulers like this ^^^ hahaha, I'll probably go back to rulers in chapter 5 though :)<p>

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